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Hazel Crow Opportunity Fund for Women in Computer Science (WICS)

The Hazel Crow Opportunity Fund supports expenses for WICS members to participate in conferences that focus on computer sciences, such as the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Nationwide, women earned only 18 percent of the bachelor's degrees awarded in computer science in 2010, according to the National Science Foundation. That's less than half the proportion in 1985, when 37 percent of those degrees went to women. In response to this nationwide issue, The Hazel Crow Opportunity Fund was established to support students seeking to participate in events that inspire, support and connect students and organizations dedicated to the study of computer science.

In the spirit of inspiration, the fund was named in honor of Hazel Crow, one of the first women in Australia to graduate with a dentistry degree. Born in the small town of Albury in 1900, her family moved to Sydney after her father died. Crow’s outstanding performance at Sydney Girls High School earned her a full scholarship to study dentistry at Sydney University in 1919. She chose the four-year dentistry degree rather than a six-year medical degree so that she could more quickly contribute financially to her family. Crow was one of only two women in her graduating class in 1923, 10 years after the last woman had received that degree. Crow went on to become one of the founding dentists of the outpatient dental department at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. At the time, it was unacceptable for women to treat male patients, even in dentistry.

Eligibility:

Undergraduate and graduate Women in Computer Science members who are enrolled at the UC Irvine Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science.

Full registration payment for undergraduate students; graduate students should receive 50 percent matching funds from advisors.

Application:

Annual endowment proceeds will be directly used for registration or WICS-sponsored expenses.

Include one paragraph explaining career goals and any personal involvement with activities that promote women’s advancement in computer science fields.

Graduate students: include financial commitment from advisor.

To Support the Hazel Crow Opportunity Fund, please go to Giving Site and in “Area of Support” select Information and Computer Sciences. You may then select, Hazel Crow Fund.